Tolerance and Islam: Do We Really Hate?
by Rakibul Islam

We see it on the news all the time. Terrorists bomb a market. Al-Qaeda denounces the United States. Clashes in Kashmir. Six people are kidnapped in Indonesia. The media is constantly flooded with topics like these, shedding negative light on Islam and its followers. Why do we see this? The perpetrators of these news stories don’t like other religions. They believe that Islam is the right religion, which most Muslims should believe, but they believe that means they have to convert or eliminate the people of other religions. They are completely intolerant of every religion except their own, and that’s what people see. Is Islam really like this? Do we Muslims hate everyone we don’t consider one of our own, or is Islam a tolerant religion?

It’s obvious what most people believe. Islam is intolerant. Muslims hate everyone. They hate Jews, Christians, Hindus, all religions. It has to be that way. The reporters on TV say it. The images confirm it. But that is not true. Islam is a tolerant religion, more tolerant in principle than most people are. As Muslims, we are supposed to respect all religions, whether they are monotheistic or polytheistic. We must tolerate all people, even if they don’t believe in God or don’t respect Muslims and how we go about worshipping. Islam was built on peace, and this was no more evident than in the Islamic empire in the 800s and 900s. Instead of forcing non-Muslims living in the empire to convert, the leaders allowed them to maintain their religion, although they did have to pay a tax. Regardless, the leaders did not make the people convert to Islam, because they respected their religion, whatever it was. In fact, in verse 82 of su’rah (passage) 5 of the Qu’ran, it reads “Thou wilt find the nearest of them in love to the believers [Muslims] are those who say 'We are Christians'.” This is because like Islam, Christianity is a monotheistic religion, and one that is contained in one book, for Christians the Bible, for Muslims the Qu’ran. Since both religions are “of the book,” we must respect them. Interestingly enough, this also applies to Judaism. It is also monotheistic and of the book, for them the Torah. All three religions are connected in that they are descended from Abraham, the prophet who lived many centuries ago. Judaism came from Abraham, which spawned Christianity, which created the base for Islam. So since all three religions are intimately connected, Islam requires that we respect them. In truth, we are supposed to hold them almost as brothers, since they are very similar to us. In effect, we all worship the same God, so we are supposed to hold each other in high regard.

Unfortunately, we do not see this friendship and tolerance in real life. We see Muslims fighting Christians, Muslims fighting Jews, and Muslims fighting Hindus. Why does this happen? Contrary to what the images on TV suggest, and against what the religious leaders say, it’s not about what religion the people follow. The reason for all these wars and clashes is land and power. To take a modern example, look at the clashes between Israelites and Palestinians over the small country of Israel. The leaders of both sides claim that they are fighting for their religion, but in reality it’s all about land. Both sides believe that the country is rightly theirs and both have their arguments. The Palestinians were there for centuries, and Israelis were granted the land by the UN in 1948. But no one would fight for these causes, so the leaders had to use something. They chose religion, and stoked the populace to hate the enemy because of the religion. Claiming that Muslims and Jews were sworn enemies, Yasser Arafat and the PLO pushed for the Palestinians to launch terrorist attacks on Jewish settlers. They claimed that the Jews took the land because they hated the Muslims, and persuaded the Muslims to hate the Jews and attack them. In response, Israelis have walled off the land, reserving only small areas for the Palestinians. The people who live in these small plots lead terrible lives, surrounded by Israeli soldiers who can basically scare the Palestinian settlers into not leaving. Despite this, the Palestinian people and Muslims in general have a bad image, as it seems that the Muslims fighting for the PLO resort to terrorist tactics to attack the “helpless” Israelis who own the land. Now it seems as if Muslims hate the Jews, and more importantly, that Islam is a religion built on hate. But everyone fails to see the truth, that Islam is a peaceful religion that is being exploited by the leaders of the PLO for their own gain. If these leaders realized this, they could try and reclaim Islam’s integrity in the eyes of the world. Instead of attacking the Israelis and incurring hatred, they could show themselves to be peaceful, and push for nonviolent ways of getting living space.

This problem with Islam has to be fixed. We are viewed as evil in many parts of the world, with stereotypical names like terrorists and turban-heads. Muslims across the United States experienced hate crimes and attacks following the events of September 11, 2001, because most of the people knew Muslims as a hate-filled people, not as peaceful, caring neighbors. It’s the fault of a select few who abuse the religion for their own gains. To make Islam good again, we have to quiet these so-called “fundamentalists” and let the masses know that we are tolerant of others, and that we are peaceful. We have to speak out against the terrorists and power-hungry leaders who use the religion for their own gain. We must show the true face of Islam, that it is a good religion, and that it doesn’t believe in violence. Islam respects all religions, and if not for figures like Osama Bin Laden, everyone would know that. It is now up to us to make that happen.

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